OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Acquires 3,735 Shares of CME Group Inc. $CME

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 24.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 18,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,735 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp’s holdings in CME Group were worth $5,540,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FLC Capital Advisors bought a new position in shares of CME Group in the fourth quarter worth about $2,122,000. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. raised its stake in CME Group by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 140,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,289,000 after purchasing an additional 3,931 shares during the period. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in CME Group by 138.8% in the 4th quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. now owns 7,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 4,152 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in CME Group by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 352,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $96,376,000 after purchasing an additional 22,692 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 132.7% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 21,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,797,000 after buying an additional 12,105 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME opened at $255.31 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $254.13 and its 200 day moving average is $281.27. CME Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $218.31 and a fifty-two week high of $329.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.51 billion, a PE ratio of 21.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a net margin of 63.30% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.96 earnings per share. CME Group’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.11%.

CME Group News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting CME Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CME Group’s Q2 results topped expectations, and the stock was reported higher on the earnings beat. US Stock Market: CME shares jump 6% after Q2 profit beats estimates; strong hedging demand boosts results
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts noted strong fundamentals and at least one rating upgrade following the earnings release, which can support investor confidence. CME Group: Q2 Earnings Results Lead To A Rating Upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS reiterated a Hold rating and kept its $260 target, signaling solid fundamentals but limited upside at current valuation. Neutral Stance Reiterated on CME as Solid Fundamentals Meet Valuation Limits; $260 Price Target Maintained
• Negative Sentiment: Bank of America and JPMorgan both maintained bearish/underweight views, even though they slightly raised price targets, highlighting ongoing caution about upside. Analyst price target updates
• Negative Sentiment: Short-interest data showed no meaningful short position, so this headline is unlikely to be a real stock driver and does not change the core thesis.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $329.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of CME Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on CME Group from $249.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $291.81.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 5,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.63, for a total transaction of $1,752,536.39. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 27,702 shares in the company, valued at $8,438,860.26. This represents a 17.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Terrence A. Duffy sold 35,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.51, for a total value of $10,447,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,606,111.30. This trade represents a 38.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.